Just two days before news leaked that Democrat Andrew Romanoff would enter the U.S. Senate race, the current holder of that seat got a remarkable endorsement.

Willie Brown, the former House speaker of the California legislature and an influential presence on the national Democratic stage, appeared on MSNBC's "Hardball" and announced that the next heir to the Kennedy legacy in the Senate was none other than Michael Bennet.

It was a telling moment.

In less than nine months in office, Colorado's junior senator has wowed prominent national Democrats and leveraged those relationships into a cross-country fundraising machine that has banked more than $2 million in six months.

What he hasn't done is manage to bowl over rank-and-file Democrats in Colorado, many of whom continue to be skeptical of Gov. Bill Ritter's pick to fill the Senate seat vacancy created when Ken Salazar became interior secretary.

None of that would have mattered much without a primary. But with the formal entry of Romanoff in the race last week, both the strengths and weaknesses of the former Denver Public Schools superintendent suddenly become much more important.

Advantage of incumbency

The primary is shaping up as a battle between a man who has worked hard to build influence on the national scene and an insurgent who has spent much of the last decade creating a formidable constituency among ground- level party activists and county chairs.

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"Bennet starts off the campaign with an overwhelming financial advantage. Romanoff starts off the campaign with an overwhelming grassroots advantage," said Steve Welchert, a Denver-based Democratic consultant.

"The game is going to be which one of these guys can best break into the other guy's strength. Can Andrew raise money, and can Michael get people to like him?" he said.

Sen. Michael Bennet has national party muscle and raised $2.6 million this year.

There is a rough consensus among political oddsmakers that Bennet has the edge. Politics isn't all about money, but much of it is, and Bennet has the advantage of incumbency and national party support.

Pueblo knows Romanoff

At the same time, Romanoff is acknowledged to be a deeper threat than many grassroots champions buried in recent years by better-funded opponents: Republican Bob Schaffer by Pete Coors in 2004 or Democrat Mike Miles by Salazar that same year, for example.

Considered one of the most naturally gifted Democratic politicians in the state, Romanoff has spent almost a decade preparing for a run like this — attending countless rubber-chicken dinners and building an e-mail list of supporters that allies say has at least 75,000 names, more impressive than any other state-level politician.

To get a feel for the way those forces are likely to rend the party, spend a little time in Pueblo, a rough-around- the-edges party stronghold that jealously guards its place as one of the last islands of old-style Democratic politics.

Of the $2.6 million Bennet has raised this year, just $1,250 came from Pueblo. Compare that with, say, the $23,350 he's raised from the tony residents of Scarsdale, N.Y.

In a political culture where loyalty is paid in hands shaken and political dinners attended, many Pueblo Democrats simply believe that Romanoff, who announced his candidacy on the city's Riverwalk, has paid his dues and Bennet has not.

"Pueblo is a pretty demanding community. We want to see our politicians come," said Romanoff supporter and state Sen. Abel Tapia, D-Pueblo.

"Whenever we have called Andrew over the last eight to 10 years, he's been here," said Tapia, who tells the story of traveling to California recently to visit family only to discover Bennet was having a fundraiser nearby in Hollywood. The story carried a double moral for the Pueblo politician: There is no doubt Bennet is connected, but he moves in circles a long way from Pueblo's annual Democratic dinner.

"I don't think anybody in Pueblo dislikes Bennet. As much as we know him, there is nothing to criticize. The problem is we don't know him."

But a surprising number of Democrats who count on a national level do.

Bennet is close to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and talks with him regularly. White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel is also a consistent phone companion.

More than simply a freshman from a swing state, the White House appears to see in Bennet a model of a new Western Democrat, analysts say, fiscally conservative but reliably progressive on key administration issues like health care reform and immigration.

The national party structure has already signaled they plan to give him plenty of help. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee opened up a Bennet campaign fund last week. And on Thursday, Obama himself weighed in, unequivocally endorsing Bennet.

Other national Democrats are piling on. The surprising remarks from Brown came after just an hour of conversation between the two at breakfast the week the segment of "Hardball" was taped.

Brown said he believed Bennet could become "the next Ted Kennedy if he chooses to stay in the U.S. Senate."

The show's surprised host, Chris Matthews, responded: "He grew up with the right lineage, but I never heard anybody (make) this pronouncement."

"Very competitive situation"

Though less breathless, former Democratic Sen. Tim Wirth — now president of the United Nations Foundation — is no less taken with Bennet.

"I've listened to people talk. He's had an impact and been very impressive," Wirth said. "He's a Western progressive. I think he's going to be just perfect representing Colorado and the Western states. He has all the right makings."

Wirth said he was perplexed with Romanoff's challenge.

"Why does one run in a Democratic primary? You have major, substantive problems. There are divisions like the Vietnam War, for example," he said. "Between these two I don't see those substantive differences."

While observers agree that giving voters reasons to toss Bennet out will be among Romanoff's biggest challenges, their primary is much more likely to be about style, approach and loyalties.

"Bennet's advantage here is the money, the party establishment, Obama and the DSCC. They are all backing Bennet," said Floyd Ciruli, a Denver-based pollster.

"And while that advantage may ultimately get him through this, in this case it's no guarantee. We have a very competitive situation here," he said.

Not all kids who play baseball are uniformed with fancy script across their chests, traveling to $1,000 instructional camps and drilled how to properly hit the cut-off man. Some kids just play to play.